Mexican journalist succumbs to wounds; second killing in week

Mexican photojournalist Alfredo Cardoso succumbed to his injuries on Sunday, two days after being shot in a beach resort town of Acapulco, becoming the second Mexican journalist to be killed in one week.

Mexican authorities told media that Cardoso, who hailed from the volatile southwestern state of Guerrero, was gunned down after being abducted by unidentified assailants from his home on Friday.

The founder of the Dos Costas magazine was found the next day inside his vehicle with five bullet wounds and marks of torture.

His death was reported by Jan Albert Hootsen, a representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in Mexico, who said that he had direct confirmation from the slain journalist’s family.

Prosecutors in Acapulco, a popular resort on Mexico's Pacific coast, said Friday that Cardoso, who worked for a local news portal, was found on a street with gunshot wounds and was shifted to a hospital.

QEPD el buen amigo fotoreportero de #Acapulco, Alfredo Cardoso, una víctima más de la imparable violencia en el puerto y la cual "quiere parar con saliva" la dizque alcaldesa @AbelinaLopezR quien cava ya su efímera carrera política a golpe de idioteces. pic.twitter.com/tBOgb1Hr6n

— solociudadanos (@solociudadanos) November 1, 2021

According to the CPJ and the National Union of Press Editors, the victim had been abducted from his home earlier Friday by unidentified armed men.

"I wish to express my condolences to the family of journalist Alfredo Cardoso Echeverria, founder of the digital media Las Dos Costas, for their lamentable loss," Guerrero state leader Evelyn Salgado wrote on social media.

Salgado condemned Cardoso's murder and said she had instructed the state government secretariat to look after his family through a local initiative set up to protect human rights defenders and journalists.

"I have asked the State Attorney General's Office to follow up on the investigations into this incident," she said.

The Guerrero State Attorney General's office said in a statement on Sunday that Cardoso had succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

It was not immediately clear whether the killing of Cardoso was a personal matter or linked to his work as a journalist covering news in Mexico.

Cardoso is the ninth journalist to be killed in Mexico this year, up from eight slain journalists in 2020.

On Thursday, Fredy Lopez, a radio broadcaster who contributed to several local, national and foreign media outlets, was shot dead near his home in San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas state.

The press rights advocacy group, Article 19, said a total of two-dozen journalists have been killed  during the first three years of the government of President Andres Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

According to a data issued in early October by left-wing Mexican politician Alejandro Encinas, 47 journalists and 94 human rights defenders have been killed in Mexico in last three years.

Pertinently, the Mexican government had sued several American gun manufacturers, accusing them of illegal commercial practices and arms trafficking, which has fueled gun violence in Mexico.

Mexico sues US gun manufacturers for arms trafficking, fueling violence

The Mexican government files a civil lawsuit against several American gun manufacturers with a US federal court, accusing them of illegal commercial practices and arms trafficking that have led to bloodshed in Mexico.

Mexico is the most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere for journalism, according to CPJ.

The country is regularly ranked alongside war-torn countries – Syria and Afghanistan – as the world's most dangerous places for journalists.

Rights watchdog Reporters without Borders (RSF) has on its Press Freedom Index put Mexico alongside Syria and Afghanistan as one of the most deadly countries for news media.

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